Initiating Tracing Of Wireless Terminal Activities

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to a method and an access network management device for initiating a tracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in a wireless network as well as to a method and a core network management device for ordering a tracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in a wireless network. According to the invention an access network management device in an access network section (AN) of a wireless network (WN) sends a request for a tracing regarding a wireless terminal to a core network management device in a core network section (CN) of the wireless network (WN). The core network management device automatically orders, based on the request, network elements of the access network section (AN) to perform tracing regarding the wireless terminal.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of tracing the activities ofwireless terminals in wireless networks. The invention more particularlyrelates to a method and an access network management device forinitiating a tracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in awireless network as well as to a method and a core network managementdevice for ordering a tracing of the activities of a wireless terminalin a wireless network.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

In a typical cellular radio system, wireless terminals in the form ofmobile user equipment units (UEs) communicate via a radio access network(RAN) section to one or more core network sections of a wirelessnetwork. The user equipment units (UEs) can be mobile stations such asmobile telephones (“cellular” telephones) and laptops with mobiletermination, and thus can be, for example, portable, pocket, hand-held,computer-included, or car-mounted mobile devices which communicate voiceand/or data with a radio access network.

The radio access network (RAN) section covers a geographical area whichis divided into cell areas, with each cell area being served by awireless access point handling device. A cell is a geographical areawhere radio coverage is provided by the wireless access point handlingdevice, which wireless access point handling device in some networks,like GSM, UMTS and LTE, is provided as radio base station equipment at abase station site. This wireless access point handling device is anetwork element that provides a wireless access point in the form of anair interface (e.g., radio frequencies) for communication with thewireless terminals within range of the access point. In the radio accessnetwork the end connectivity to the wireless terminal is performed. InUMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications) and GSM (Global System forMobile communications) a base station is connected to another networkelement in the form of a radio network controller (RNC) or a basestation controller (BSC) in the radio access network section, while inother types of networks, like LTE (Long Term Evolution), thefunctionality of the radio network controller is provided in the accesspoint itself. In LTE networks the access point handling device is namedeNodeB (Evolved NodeB). The network elements in the radio access networkdo in turn communicate with connection setup devices in a core networksection of the wireless network, which in the case of UMTS and GSM is anMSC (Mobile Services Switching Centre), which sets up connectionsbetween user equipment units and other terminals or other user equipmentunits or other networks. In LTE the corresponding network elements aretypically based on elements such as routers.

The different network elements in the core network section and accessnetwork section are furthermore managed by various network managementdevices. This may be done in order to monitor the functionality of theelements in the network in order to for instance detect faults andprovide servicing of the network elements. The network managementdevices are often separated for the access network section and the corenetwork section, but can also be combined.

In the core network section there are furthermore often low level corenetwork management devices, which are often called SNM (Sub NetworkManager), NEM (Network Element Manager) or EMS (Element ManagementSystem). Normally one low level core network management device willhandle network elements provided by one, single supplier. This meansthat an operator of a wireless network that has several network elementsuppliers, i.e. an operator operating in a multi-supplier environmentwill have several, separate low level core network management devices.On top of the low level core network management device, in the corenetwork section, there is normally provided a high level core networkmanagement device. This device is often termed NMC (Network ManagementCenter). The high level core management device is multi-supplier andprovided on a network level, and has a higher abstraction level than thelow level core network management devices. It coordinates data fromseveral low level core network management devices.

In the access network section there is also one or more access networkmanagement devices that are similar to the low level core networkmanagement devices. The only difference between the access networkmanagement devices and the low level core network management devices,apart from the obvious differences resulting because of the differentnature of the network elements they are serving, is in many aspects onlythe network section they are provided in. Therefore the same terminologyis normally used for the access network management devices and the lowlevel core network management devices.

It is in many cases of interest to trace the activities of wirelessterminals. This may be of interest in order to see if the network isfunctioning properly for a wireless terminal. When the activities of awireless terminal are traced, the wireless terminal is followed throughthe network and all relevant messages and data are logged along the way.This data gives valuable input regarding how well the network operates,and also information for trouble shooting.

Typical data that could be logged is information about the speechquality and events that have occurred along the way (like a dropped callor a handover).

Today such tracing is initiated in the core network and then typicallyby a core network management device. Such a tracing can then be orderedby an operator of a low level core network management device or a highlevel core management device. In the ordering of such a tracing awireless terminal or a subscriber identity associated with the wirelessterminal is specified, together with other types of data, like forexample:

which parts of the network where the tracing shall be carried out (e.g.in the whole network, or in a region) and

trace depth (i.e. which data and messages shall be logged)

How such tracing may be performed in a network is for instance describedin 3GPP TS 32.421 V7.2.0 (2006-09), 3GPP TS 32.422 V7.2.0 (2006-12) and3GPP TS 32.423 V7.4.0 (2006-12).

However, the analysis of log data that is the result of such a tracingneed often be done in access network management devices and not in corenetwork management devices. It is therefore of interest to initiate sucha tracing from access network management devices. This is today notpossible to do in a simple way. Today, when performing such a tracing,initiation of the tracing needs to be done in a core network managementdevice, which thus is different from the management device that is usedfor the analysis of the trace log data.

Today a user of an access network management device who desires to logdata has to initiate the tracing in another network management devicethan this user normally works with. This is time consuming andcumbersome, and can easily go wrong.

The network user that needs to start a tracing may be a radio networkoptimizer (or at least a person working with the access network).However, trace activation requires activation from the core networksection, which is in most cases managed by a separate low level corenetwork management device (and thus by another user).

The reason for the tracing having to be activated via the core networksection, i.e. so-called signalling based activation, is that because ofsecurity reasons the identities used for the wireless terminal andsubscription are not known in the access network section. Instead, thetrace initiation is provided via the core network section, where a tracereference number that can be used in the access network section isallocated instead of the disallowed identities. The mapping between thetrace reference and terminal identities can then be done in the corenetwork management device.

It may also be the case that the wireless terminal that needs to betraced is moving, and must be traced in another, roaming operator's,network. Again, the trace initiation needs to be done in another networkmanagement device (in another country).

There is therefore a need for a simpler and more user-friendlyinitiation of tracing the activities of a wireless terminal in awireless network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is therefore directed towards providing a simplerand more user-friendly initiation of tracing the activities of awireless terminal in a wireless network.

This is generally solved through sending a request for a tracingregarding a wireless terminal from an access network management deviceto a core network management device including a user selected permanentwireless network identity associated with this wireless terminal.

One object of the present invention is thus to provide a method forinitiating a tracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in awireless network, which method allows a simpler and more user-friendlyinitiation of tracing the activities of a wireless terminal in awireless network.

This object is according to a first aspect of the present inventionachieved through a method for initiating a tracing of the activities ofa wireless terminal in a wireless network. In the method a user selectedpermanent wireless network identity associated with a wireless terminalfor which a tracing is desired is received in an access networkmanagement device provided in relation to an access network section ofthe wireless network and managing network elements of the access networksection. Thereafter a request for a tracing regarding said wirelessterminal is sent from the access network management device to a corenetwork management device provided in a core network section of thewireless network.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an access networkmanagement device for initiating a tracing of the activities of awireless terminal in a wireless network, which allows a simpler and moreuser-friendly initiation of tracing the activities of a wirelessterminal in a wireless network.

This object is according to a second aspect of the present inventionachieved through an access network management device for initiating atracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in a wireless networkthat is provided in relation to an access network section of thewireless network and manages network elements of this access networksection. The device includes a user interface, via which a user selectedpermanent wireless network identity associated with a wireless terminalfor which a tracing is desired is received a communication unit forcommunicating with other devices and entities, and a network tracerequesting unit that is configured generate a request for a tracingregarding the wireless terminal, including the user selected permanentwireless network identity, and order the communication unit to send therequest to a core network management device in a core network section ofthe wireless network.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method forordering a tracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in awireless network, which method allows a simpler and more user-friendlyinitiation of tracing the activities of a wireless terminal in awireless network.

This object is according to a third aspect of the present inventionachieved through a method for ordering a tracing of the activities of awireless terminal in a wireless network. In this method a core networkmanagement device provided in a core network section of the wirelessnetwork receives a request for a tracing regarding a wireless terminalfrom an access network management device, which is provided in relationto an access network section of the wireless network and manages networkelements of this access network section. Here the request includes apermanent wireless network identity associated with the wirelessterminal for which a tracing is desired. Thereafter network elements ofthe access network section are automatically ordered to perform tracingregarding the wireless terminal based on the request.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a core networkmanagement device for ordering a tracing of the activities of a wirelessterminal in a wireless network, which allows a simpler and moreuser-friendly initiation of tracing the activities of a wirelessterminal in a wireless network.

This object is according to a fourth aspect of the present inventionachieved through a core network management device for ordering a tracingof the activities of a wireless terminal in a wireless network. The corenetwork management device is provided in relation to a core networksection of the wireless network and includes a communication unit forcommunicating with other devices and entities and which receives arequest for a tracing regarding a wireless terminal from an accessnetwork management device that is provided in relation to an accessnetwork section of the wireless network and manages network elements ofthe access network section. The request includes a permanent wirelessnetwork identity that is associated with the wireless terminal for whicha trace is desired. The device also includes a network trace managementunit that is configured to receive the request from the communicationunit and automatically order network elements of the access networksection to perform tracing regarding the wireless terminal based on therequest.

The present invention has many advantages. It is user-friendly in thatit allows initiation of the tracing of the activities of a wirelessterminal in a wireless network from an access network management device.The invention furthermore allows tracing to be initiated for othernetworks if the wireless terminal is located there.

It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when usedin this specification is taken to specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps or components, but does not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,components or groups thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described in more detail in relationto the enclosed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically shows a wireless network comprising an accessnetwork section and a core network section,

FIG. 2 shows a block schematic of an access network management devicewhich is communicating with a low level core network management device,

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a number of general method steps accordingto the invention taken in the access network management device,

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a number of general method steps accordingto a first variation of the present invention taken in the low levelcore network management device, and

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a number of general method steps accordingto a second variation of the present invention taken in the low levelcore network management device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and notlimitation, specific details are set forth such as particulararchitectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide athorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed in other embodiments that depart from these specific details.In other instances, detailed descriptions of well known devices,circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the descriptionof the present invention with unnecessary detail.

The present invention is directed towards initiating of tracing fromnetwork management devices that are provided in access network sectionsof a wireless networks. The present invention will in the following bedescribed in relation to tracing being performed in an LTE (Long TermEvolution) network. It should however be realised that the presentinvention is not limited to LTE networks but may be provided in anywireless network such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications), GSM(Global System for Mobile communications) and WLAN (Wireless Local AreaNetwork).

The present invention will now be described in more detail in thenon-limiting example context of a wireless network WN that is in theform of an LTE network, which is shown in a simplified form in FIG. 1.The wireless network WN is divided into a core network section CN and anaccess network section AN, which separation is indicated by a horizontaldashed line in FIG. 1. The core network section CN includes networkelements in the form of a first pool of communication setup devices 28and a second pool of communication setup devices 30 These communicationsetup devices 28 and 30 are responsible for providing communication andare normally provided as routers that route traffic to an from theaccess network section AN. Traffic is here provided as packet basedtraffic. In the core network section CN there is furthermore provided alow level core network management device 32, which is responsible foroperation and maintenance (O & M) for network elements in the corenetwork section CN, for instance routers from one specific supplier,which may be from the company Ericsson. Thus it should be realised thatthere may be several such low level core network management devices 32,at least one for each supplier of network elements in the network.Depending on the complexity of the network WN there may furthermore bemore than one such low level core network management device for the samesupplier. These low level core network management devices are oftencalled SNM (Sub Network Manager), NEM (Network Element Manager) or EMS(Element Management System). There is furthermore a high level corenetwork management device 34, which is responsible for networkmanagement of network elements independently of their origin. Thisdevice 34 works on a higher abstraction level than the low level corenetwork management device 32 and also coordinates data from several lowlevel core network management devices. This device 34 is often calledNMC (Network Management Center). In the core network section CN there isfurthermore provided a Home Subscriber Server HSS 36 and a VisitorLocation Register VLR 38, where information about wireless terminals iskept. These are thus databases about wireless terminals in the networkWN. The HSS 36 here keeps information about wireless terminals that areassociated with the network, where a user of a wireless terminal mayhave a subscription to the use of the network, while the VLR 38 includesinformation about wireless terminals associated with other networks thatare visiting the network. These are used in the routing of traffic toand from wireless terminals. However they are also used in theinitiating of tracing, as will be described in more detail later.

Each pool of connection setup devices 28 and 30 is furthermore connectedto a group of network elements in the form of wireless access pointhandling devices, which are here in LTE provided as eNBs (evolvedNodeB). In FIG. 1 there is shown a first, second and third wirelessaccess point handling device 10, 12 and 14 connected to the first poolof communication setup devices 28 and a fourth, fifth and sixth wirelessaccess point handling device 20, 22 and 24 connected to the second poolof communication setup devices 30. Each wireless access point handlingdevice here handles a geographical area in the form of a cell, via whichwireless terminals may communicate with the wireless network. Here itshould be realised that one wireless access point handling device mayhandle more than one cell. In the figure only one cell 18 associatedwith the first wireless access point handling device 10 is shown. Thecells are all provided in a geographical area covered by the accessnetwork section AN. Wireless access point handling devices are withinthese types of networks base stations which in the case of LTE areenhanced and also include base station controller functionality. Inother types of networks, like UMTS and GSM, these are separate networkelements. In FIG. 1 one wireless terminal 16 is shown in the cell 18handled by the first wireless access point handling device 10 in theaccess network section AN and shown as communicating with this firstwireless access point handling device 10. It should be realised thatnormally there may be provided several wireless terminals communicatingwith a wireless access point handling device. There is furthermore shownan access network management device 26 provided in the access networksection AN that is responsible for operation and maintenance (O & M) fornetwork elements in the access network section AN. Also here there maybe several such devices for manufacturers of different network elementsin the access network section AN. This device is similar to the lowlevel core network management device. The only difference between theaccess network management device 26 and the low level core networkmanagement device 32, apart from the obvious differences resultingbecause of the different nature of the network elements they areserving, is in many aspects only the network section they are providedin. Therefore the same terminology is often used for these networkmanagement devices. In FIG. 1 connections between the network managementdevices and the other entities of the network are shown with dashedlines as opposed to the connection between communication setup devicesand wireless access point handling devices in order to differentiatebetween actual traffic and operation and maintenance. The wirelessaccess point devices are thus network elements that are managed by theaccess network management device 26, while the connection setup devices28 and 30 are network elements managed by the low level core networkmanagement device 32.

FIG. 2 shows a block schematic of the access network management device26 and the low level core network management device 32. These devicesare here furthermore shown as communicating with each other using apeer-to-peer interface P2P. The access network management device 26includes a user interface 40, which may include a keyboard and displayand is connected to a network trace requesting unit 42. The networktrace requesting unit 42 is furthermore connected to a first store 44and to a first communication unit 46 for communication with otherentities inside and outside the wireless network WN. The low level corenetwork management device 32 includes a second interface 48, alsoprovided for communication with other entities inside and outside thewireless network WN. The second communication unit 48 is in turnconnected to a network trace management unit 50. The network tracemanagement unit 50 is finally connected to a second store 52.

Tracing of the activities of wireless terminals is important for manyreasons. This may be necessary in order to obtain information about howdifferent network elements are functioning as well as of how wirelessterminals are functioning. They are also used for troubleshootingpurposes. Information that may be of interest is information likeinformation about dropped calls and dropped handovers between differentaccess points.

The ordering of such tracing in these wireless networks has to beperformed from the core network section CN because of security reasons.However, the devices that normally need such tracing are in manyinstances the access network management devices. Today there exist nosimple way to initiate such tracing from the access network. The presentinvention is therefore directed towards simplifying such initiating oftracing.

Now the initiating and ordering of tracing to be performed according toa first variation of the present invention will be described withreference being made to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, where FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a number of general method steps according to the inventiontaken in the access network management device and FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a number of general method steps according to a first variationof the present invention taken in the low level core network managementdevice.

It all starts with an operator of the access network management device26 wanting to trace the activities of a wireless terminal, for instancewireless terminal 16 in FIG. 1. He/she may then start a trace initiatingapplication that is provided by the network trace requesting unit 42 ofthe device 26. In this application he/she may furthermore be presentedwith the possibility to enter some necessary data via the user interface40. In order to do this he has to have knowledge of a permanent wirelessnetwork identity (NI) associated with the wireless terminal (WT) 16.This identity may be an identity that is directly associated with theterminal in question, such as an IMEI (International Mobile EquipmentIdentity). However it may also be an identity that belongs to the userof the wireless terminal (WT), such as an identity associated with asubscription to the services of the network. This type of identity maybelong to a SIM card being inserted in the wireless terminal, aso-called IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity). In thesimplest form of the invention an identity associated with the wirelessterminal is all the data the user may have to enter via the userinterface 40. However he may also be presented with some furtherpossibilities, like to indicate the extent of the tracing and a possibletrace log data handling destination device (DD) that is to receive logdata resulting from the performed tracing. The trace log data handlingdestination device may be the access network management device 26, inwhich case there may be no need to make an indication of destinationdevice. There may also exist a possibility to select a number ofdifferent trace log data handling destination devices, as well as apossibility for the user to enter information that enables theidentification of a suitable trace log data handling destination device.He/she may for instance be presented with a list of names of such tracelog data handling destination devices. It is furthermore possible thatthe tracing is to cover all activities of the wireless terminal, inwhich case there may be no need for indicating the extent. The userinterface 40 thus receives the network identity of the wireless terminaltogether with a possible selection of the extent of the tracing and adestination device selection, step 54. This information is thenforwarded to the network trace requesting unit 42.

The network trace requesting unit 42 then retrieves an address of thetrace log data handling destination device based on the entered data,step 56, which address is stored in the first store 44. In case nodestination device was indicated or in case the access networkmanagement device was selected as destination device by the user, thenthe address is the address of the access network management device 26.This address would of course not be retrieved if the user had entered atrace log data handling destination device address directly. The addressis normally provided in the form of an IP (Internet Protocol) address.Thereafter the network trace requesting unit 42 generates a request fora tracing of the activities of the selected wireless terminal 16, step58. This request then includes the network identity, destination deviceaddress and data indicating the extent of tracing in case the user hadsubmitted such an indication. The request may also include a time periodwithin which the request is applicable and/or a starting and/or an endtime for the applicability of the tracing. As an alternative there mayexist a default setting in the system of how long traces are applicable,which all network management devices and network elements know about.Thereafter the request is sent to the low level core network managementdevice 32 via the first communication unit 46 over the peer-to-peerinterface P2P, step 60. The request including the address may be sentusing a management protocol, like SNMP (Simple Network ManagementProtocol), CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) or SOAP(Simple Object Access Protocol). It is also possible to send a requestto end a trace at a later time from the access network management device26.

Since there can be different suppliers or the network may be very large,the request may be sent to several low level core network managementdevices. However, in order to keep the description of the presentinvention simple, a request will in the following only be described inrelation to being sent to one low level core network management device.A request may as an alternative be sent to the high level core networkmanagement device 34, which takes care of the handling of the requestinstead.

The request is then received by the second communication unit 48 of thelow level core network management device 32, step 62, from where it isforwarded to the network trace management unit 50. The network tracemanagement unit 50 then verifies the device identity, step 64, which isdone through investigating the HSS 36 and/or the VLR 38 via the secondcommunication unit 48 in order to make sure that the wireless terminal16 is located in the network WN. In case it is not, but belongs to thenetwork WN, the request for a trace is forwarded to another network. Itmay also involve finding out an IMEI from an IMSI or vice versa to beused in the tracing. After the identity has been verified, the networktrace management unit 50 generates a trace identity (TI), step 66, andthen automatically orders the relevant network elements (10, 12, 14, 20,22, 24) to perform a tracing of the activities of the wireless terminal16, step 68. In this variation of the present invention, the orderincludes an identity associated with the wireless terminal, i.e. eitheran IMEI or an IMSI or equivalent identifiers, the trace identity, thetrace log data handling destination device address and possibly alsoinformation about the extent to which the trace is to be performed. Inthis first variation of the invention the order also includes aninstruction to send log data, i.e. the results of the tracing to thetrace log data handling destination device that is identified by thedestination device address in order to ensure that the destinationdevice receives the trace log data. This may be done through sending therequest to one or more of the pool of connection setup devices which inturn order their connected wireless access point handling devices toperform tracing of the activities of the wireless terminal. Finally thenetwork trace management unit 50 informs the trace log data handlingdestination device, which may thus be the access network managementdevice 26, of the trace identity used for the trace, step 70, via thesecond communication unit 48.

Thereafter the activities of the wireless terminals 16 are traced andlogs including log data regarding these activities are created in thedifferent network elements according to the extent indicated. Logs arehere created as soon as the wireless terminal 16 is engaged in someactivity. No logging takes place if it is not active. Here each accesspoint handling device 12, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24 logs data about thewireless terminal in case it is active in relation to it, for instancebased on handovers from node to node or when traffic is received andsent to and from the wireless terminal 16 via the corresponding accesspoint. The log data, which may include information, such as informationabout the speech quality and events that have occurred (like a droppedcall or a handover) is then stored using the same trace identity in allthe network entities where a log is created. Other activities that cantake place and be logged are location updating and periodic updates.Thereafter when tracing is to be ended, which may thus be based on apre-set time having lapsed, having received a stop tracing order fromthe low level core network management device 32 or through havingdetermined that an indicated duration provided in the order havinglapsed, the log data is sent to the destination device from all thesenetwork elements using the destination device address. Here the log datais only accompanied by the trace identity, because the network elementsare for security reasons normally not allowed to use the identity of thewireless terminal in communication. The destination device may thenanalyse the log data.

Now a second variation of the present invention will be described withreference being made to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, where the latter figureshows a flow chart of a number of general method steps according to thissecond variation of the present invention taken in the low level corenetwork management device 32.

As in the first variation an operator of the access network managementdevice 26 enters a permanent wireless network identity (NI) associatedwith the wireless terminal (WT) 16, possibly together with the extent ofthe tracing and a possible indication of a trace log data handlingdestination device (DD) to the network trace requesting unit 42 via theuser interface 40, step 54. The network trace requesting unit 42 thenretrieves the address of the destination device from the first store 44,step 56, generates a request for a tracing relating to the selectedwireless terminal, where the request includes the network identity,destination device address and data indicating the extent of tracing incase the user had submitted such an indication, step 58. Thereafter therequest is sent to the low level core network management device 32 viathe first communication unit 46 over the peer-to-peer interface P2P,step 60.

The request is also here in the second variation received by the secondcommunication unit 48 of the low level core network management device32, step 72, and forwarded to the network trace management unit 50. Thenetwork trace management unit 50 again verifies the device identity,step 74, generates a trace identity and automatically orders therelevant network elements to perform a tracing regarding the wirelessterminal, step 76. The trace identity is also stored in the second store52 for later use. It may here be stored together with the destinationdevice address and possibly also together with the received wirelessterminal identity. In this variation of the present invention, the orderas earlier includes an identity of the wireless terminal, the traceidentity, the destination device address and possibly also informationabout the extent to which the trace is to be performed. However, thereis no order to send log data, i.e. the results of the tracing to thedestination device address. It is however possible that the destinationdevice is informed of the trace identity. Instead the network elementsreport their results of the tracing to the low level core networkmanagement device 32. An instruction to report the results may beexplicitly included in the order, or these elements may bepre-programmed to always send the log results to the low level corenetwork management device 32. As before the request may be sent to oneor more of the pool of connection setup devices, which in turn ordertheir connected wireless access point handling devices to performtracing of the activities of the wireless terminal.

When logging is then performed in the different network elements, eachaccess point handling device 12, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24 logs data about thewireless terminal 16 in case it is active in relation to it, forinstance based on handovers from node to node or various traffic beingtransferred between the wireless terminal and the network via it. Logdata is then stored in the network element using the same traceidentity. Thereafter when tracing is to be ended, the log data is sentto the low level core network management device 38. The networkmanagement unit 50 of the low level core network management device 38therefore receives the results of the tracing, step 78, in the form ofthe log data which is accompanied by the trace identifier. Based on thetrace identifier it then fetches the destination device address as wellas possibly the wireless terminal identifier and thereafter sends theresults of the tracing to the destination device via the secondcommunication unit 48, step 80, in order for the destination device tobe able to analyse the log data. In this way it ensures that thedestination device receives the trace log data. It is here possible thatthe low level core network management device 32 gathers all log datafrom the different network elements before it is sent to the destinationdevice.

It should here be realised that the first and second variation describedabove may be combined in the same network, in that some network elementsassociated with one low level core network management device may sendlog data directly to the destination device, whereas other that areassociated with another low level core network management device maysend log data to this low level core network management device, which inturn sends the log data to the destination device.

The extent of tracing can be defined in some different ways. It ispossible that a tracing can be requested for the whole network or belimited to a part of the network, for instance to all or some of theaccess point handling devices connected to one or a limited number ofpool of connection setup devices. In this case the request for a tracingsent to a core network management device would include data regarding apart of the wireless network where the tracing should be carried out. Itis also possible to limit the tracing to only some type of activities ofthe wireless terminal or to some type of data, such as for instance onlydropped connections or missed handovers. In this case the request for atracing sent to a core network management device would include anindication of the type of wireless terminal activities and/or data to belogged.

The peer-to-peer connection may be provided through each networkmanagement device having a manager object communicating with a proxyobject provided in the corresponding network management device withwhich communication is performed. These proxy objects may be provided asborder objects that communicate with each other in the different networkmanagement devices. More details of this type of communication may befound in 3GPP TR 32.806 V7.0.0 (2006-06), which is herein incorporatedby reference.

As mentioned before the destination device may be the same device thatinitiated the tracing of log data. In case this is the only optionprovided for the user, it is not necessary to allow the user to enterinformation allowing an address to be found. The address may thus beselected automatically. The request does then furthermore not have toinclude an address, since in IP communication this address is providedin the data packets in which the request is sent. Also the networkelements in the access network section may know about the addressbeforehand, because the access network management device is themanagement device they normally communicate with. In this case they maybe configured to always send log data to this access network managementdevice. However, when the destination device is another device, thisaddress normally has to be included. However it is also possible thatonly an identifier is included, which allows the core network managementdevice to locate the correct destination device. The destination devicemay be another access network management device in the same or inanother network. It may furthermore be the high level core networkmanagement device. It can furthermore be a completely different device,for instance a separate device, like a PC, including a separate scriptor post processing tool specialised for this purpose, such as TEMS™. Thedevice may also be a database.

The method steps and activities performed by the low level core networkmanagement device that were described above may as an alternative beperformed by the high level core network management device.

The present invention has many advantages. It is user-friendly in thatit allows initiation of the tracing of the activities of a wirelessterminal in a wireless network from an access network management device.The invention furthermore allows tracing to be initiated for othernetworks if the wireless terminal is located there. The inventionfurthermore provides a unified delivery of trace results to adestination device. This is furthermore possible in an environment wherethere are several different network management devices that are onlymanaging some network elements. It also allows flexibility in thatdifferent destination devices may be selected. In this way a destinationdevice that is specialised in analysing such trace results may beselected as a destination device.

The network management devices according to the present invention can beimplemented through one or more processors together with computerprogram code for performing the functions of the invention. The programcode mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product,for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer programcode for performing the method according to the present invention whenbeing loaded into a network management device.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be most practical and preferred embodiments, itis to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements. Therefore the presentinvention is only to be limited by the following claims.

1. A method for initiating a tracing of the activities of a wirelessterminal in a wireless network comprising the steps of: receiving, in anaccess network management device provided in relation to an accessnetwork section of the wireless network and managing network elements ofsaid access network section, a user selected permanent wireless networkidentity associated with a wireless terminal for which a tracing isdesired, sending a request for a tracing regarding said wirelessterminal from said access network management device to a core networkmanagement device provided in a core network section of the wirelessnetwork.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said requestcomprises data regarding a part of the wireless network where thetracing should be carried out.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein said request comprises an indication of a type of wirelessterminal activities and/or data to be logged.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said request is sent over a peer-to-peer interfaceprovided between the two network management devices.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving, in saidaccess network management device, trace log data associated with saidrequest regarding said wireless terminal.
 6. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the request comprises an address of a destination tracelog data handling device that is to receive trace log data associatedwith said request.
 7. An access network management device for initiatinga tracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in a wirelessnetwork, provided in relation to an access network section of thewireless network and managing network elements of said access networksection, comprising: a user interface for receiving a user selectedpermanent wireless network identity associated with a wireless terminalfor which a tracing is desired, a communication unit for communicatingwith other devices and entities, and a network trace requesting unitconfigured to generate a request for a tracing regarding said wirelessterminal, where said request includes said user selected permanentwireless network identity, and order said communication unit to sendsaid request to a core network management device provided in a corenetwork section of the wireless network.
 8. A method for ordering atracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in a wireless networkcomprising the steps of: receiving, in a core network management deviceprovided in a core network section of the wireless network, a requestfor a tracing regarding a wireless terminal from an access networkmanagement device provided in relation to an access network section ofthe wireless network and managing network elements of said accessnetwork section, and automatically ordering, based on said request,network elements of the access network section to perform tracingregarding said wireless terminal, wherein said request comprises apermanent wireless network identity associated with the wirelessterminal for which a tracing is desired.
 9. The method according toclaim 8, further comprising the step of verifying the identity in atleast one database of wireless terminals in the network and performingthe step of ordering based on said verification.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the step of verifying the permanentwireless network identity comprises locating, based on the receivedidentity, a related permanent wireless network identity of the wirelessterminal in said database that is suitable for use in performing tracingby the network elements.
 11. The method according to claim 8, whereinsaid step of automatically ordering network elements of the accessnetwork to perform tracing includes ordering tracing to be performed toan extent that is indicated in the request.
 12. The method according toclaim 11, wherein said request comprises data regarding a part of thewireless network where the tracing should be carried out and the step ofordering comprises only ordering network elements provided in said partof the wireless network to perform tracing.
 13. The method according toclaim 11, wherein said request comprises an indication of a type ofwireless terminal activities and/or data to be logged and the step ofordering comprises ordering network elements to only provide trace logdata regarding the indicated type of activities and/or data.
 14. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein said request is received over apeer-to-peer interface provided between the two network managementdevices.
 15. The method according to claim 8, wherein the requestcomprises an address of a destination trace log data handling devicethat is to receive trace log data associated with said request.
 16. Themethod according to claim 15, further comprising the step of orderingthe network elements to provide trace log data regarding the wirelessterminal to the destination trace log data handling device having saidaddress.
 17. The method according to claim 8, further comprising thestep of receiving, in said core network management device, trace logdata associated with said request regarding said wireless terminal fromsaid network elements and sending this trace log data to the destinationtrace log data handling device.
 18. A core network management device forordering a tracing of the activities of a wireless terminal in awireless network, provided in relation to a core network section of thewireless network and comprising: a communication unit for communicatingwith other devices and entities and for receiving a request for atracing regarding a wireless terminal from an access network managementdevice provided in relation to an access network section of the wirelessnetwork and managing network elements of said access network section,and a network trace management unit configured to receive said requestfrom the communication unit, and automatically order, based on saidrequest, network elements of the access network section to performtracing regarding said wireless terminal, wherein said request comprisesa permanent wireless network identity associated with the wirelessterminal for which a trace is desired.